7 November 2018
15 August 2018
26 April 2018
Rodin – Ancient Greece And A Third Uninvited Presence – Edward Lucie-Smith
The longer I spent in the British Museum’s admirable new blockbuster show, Rodin and the art of ancient Greece, the more keenly I seemed to feel the presence of a third, uninvited presence
New Asian Art Gallery At British Museum A Let Down – Edward Lucie-Smith
The new galleries of Asian art at the British Museum, named after benefactor Sir Joseph Hotung and numbered 33 on the museum’s floor plan, ought to mark a big step forward in the B.M’s engagement with historic Asian cultures. The sad fact is that for various reasons, they don’t.
17 September 2017
Scythian Gold Sinister Riches British Museum By Edward Lucie-Smith
The British Museum’s new exhibition, Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia, marks another triumph for the B.M’s policy of allying itself to Russian institutions.
30 May 2017
HOKUSAI A Most Influential Alien By Edward Lucie-Smith
Until the Modern epoch, and indeed right up to the present day, Hokusai was by far the most influential non-European artist to impact European art.
23 May 2017
27 October 2016
Clumsy Agency Waiter Breaks Priceless Roman Statue At British Museum
A clumsy agency waiter from an external hire company working at a party at the British Museum has broken a priceless Roman sculpture.
British Museum Sculpture In Easter Island Restitution Bid
The British Museum is again the focus of an international campaign calling for the return of a sacred object. Chilean filmmakers have launched a campaign for the world’s second most popular museum to return a mystical Easter Island sculpture on display for the last 100 years. Hoa Haka Nana’ia AKA “hidden or stolen friend” in the regions’ native […]
Maggi Hambling Works On Paper Exhibition Announced For British Museum
A new show of works on paper by Maggi Hambling has been announced by the British Museum. Working across all media, in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and installation, Hambling is one of Britain’s foremost contemporary figurative artists. Drawing has always been at the heart of her practice and is of fundamental importance to her. The exhibition takes its title ‘Touch’ from this concept of a […]
British Museum Celebrates 2016 As Most Successful Year Ever
The British Museum has released their Annual Review for 2016 revealing thatit was the Museum’s most successful year ever with nearly 6.9 million visitors to Bloomsbury (6,853,540) and a digital audience in excess of 40 million. An astonishing 7.7million people in the UK saw British Museum objects outside London thanks to the Museum’s National Programmes partnership scheme. The Museum was […]
Activists Target British Museum’s Links With Oil Giant BP
Anti BP Oil Activists staged a demonstration inside London’s leading museum yesterday in protest of the institutions continuing sponsorship with the energy giant BP. A group of at least twenty demonstrators organised a “disobedient exhibition” inside the covered central courtyard on the busiest day of the Easter Holiday. Dozens of black-clad activists entered the court at around 3pm and […]
Tate Modern Losing Visitors As Figures Drop To Ten Year Low
Tate Modern and The Southbank Centre both suffered large falls in visitor numbers in 2015 with 18% and 19% drops respectively. Tate Modern’s 4.7 million visitors was the lowest for 10 years, however figures are expected to improve this year following the highly anticipated Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition and the opening of the venue’s new extension this summer. A spokesperson […]
British Museum Pictorial Conservation Studio Receives Generous Donation
London’s British Museum has announced a generous gift that will be be focused on the world famous Pictorial Conservation Studio located in the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre (WCEC). The Mark Pigott Pictorial Conservation Studio encompasses three vital resources for the Museum: the Conservation Studio, the Organics Wet Room and the Mounting Studio. The Pictorial Conservation Studio […]
Artists Pledge Not To Accept Sponsorship Money From Oil Companies
Over 200 artists and arts organisations pledged not to accept sponsorship money from oil companies. The signatories include fourth plinth artist Hans Haacke, Jem Finer, Raoul Martinez (UK), Steve Lambert (US), and The Yes Men (US) A ‘Fossil Funds Free’ icon will now appear on participants work. The ”fossil funds free” pledge is part of a campaign […]
Hartwig Fischer Appointed As New Director Of The Popular British Museum
The German art historian Hartwig Fischer has been appointed (but not confirmed) as the new director of the British Museum replacing the current head Neil MacGregor. The museum is the most popular visitor attraction in Britain, with 6.7 million people coming through the doors in 2014. Fischer will be the first non-British head of the institution since the 1860s. Two previous […]
Flash Mob Invades British Museum To Protest Against BP Sponsorship
A flash mob invaded the British Museum in London on Sunday to protest its sponsorship by oil and gas giant BP. The demonstrators carried banners reading “end oil” and “no new BP deal”. The group were dressed in black and carrying black umbrellas, the protesters sang and performed a dramatisation of an oil spill, before […]
British Museum: Fifteenth Must-See Destination On Lonely Planet’s Bucket List
The British Museum in London has made it onto the top 20 must-see global sites, alongside world heritage sites like the Taj Mahal and Cambodia’s Temples of Angkor. The travel website Lonely Planet places the institution at 15th behind Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and other important places of outstanding beauty . Another 34 UK entries made it onto the world’s […]
Syria Monument Destruction Worst Cultural Disaster Since WW2 Says British Museum
“The latest news reports of fighting in the vicinity of Palmyra fill us with concern as this is a World Heritage Monument and one of the greatest sites in Syria. Any damage or destruction would be a great loss to humanity. In the absence of specific information, it is not yet possible to comment on what has […]
Director Chris Dercon: To Leave Tate Modern To Run Prestigious Theatre
Artlyst had previously noticed an alarming trend with the seeming exodus of London’s leading museum directors. This includes the resignation of Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, Dr. Nicolas Penny retiring from the National Gallery, and Director Penelope Curtis resigning from Tate Britain – everyone seems to be jumping ship just before a […]
Tate’s Chris Dercon Rumoured Resignation NPG’s Sandy Nairne Bows Out
Artlyst is not normally one for conspiracy theories, but we have noticed an alarming trend with the seeming exodus of London’s leading museum directors. This includes the resignation of Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, Dr. Nicolas Penny retiring from the National Gallery, and Director Penelope Curtis resigning from Tate Britain – everyone […]
Parthenon Marbles: British Museum And UK Ministers Snub Unesco Mediation Offer
The international campaign promoting the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece has had a set back when both the British Museum and the UK Government refused to attend talks with Unesco last month. Culture Minister Ed Vaizey explained that they believed the Greek call for mediation was just another way of saying return. “We have seen nothing […]
Trustees At the British Museum State Clear Position On Parthenon Sculptures
The British Museum has released a document setting out their position on the Elgin Marbles otherwise known as the Parthenon Sculptures. The British Museum tells the story of cultural achievement throughout the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago, until the present day. The Parthenon Sculptures are a significant part of that story. The […]
British Museum To Display Rare 18th Century Watercolour
With the support of the Art Fund, the Ottley Group, the Oppenheimer Fund, Jean-Luc Baroni, the Society of Dilettanti Charitable Trust and individual contributions; the British Museum has acquired a rare and early surviving work by one of the eighteenth century’s most innovative and technically gifted landscape artists. The work is by Giovanni Battista Lusieri, […]
28 September 2014
British Museum Explores The Ming Dynasty Fifty Years That Changed China
The British Museum is hosting a new major exhibition which centres around the golden age of the Ming dynasty in Chinese history, which they claim to be fifty years that changed China. This exhibition aims to change the way the Western world has viewed Chinese history, focusing on using the rare items on display in […]
6 September 2014
Mummies Unraveled: New Exhibition Explores Ancient Lives Through Interactive Technology
The British Museum is well known for its exhibits on Ancient Egypt, ranging from well preserved mummies to giant statues of Pharaohs, with the Rosetta Stone seemingly always having a small crowd surrounding it, attracting many visitors. However, the museum has currently expanded its collection of mummies, for its temporary exhibition on “Ancient lives, new […]
Richard Hamilton’s James Joyce Ulysses Illustrations On Display At The British Museum
A major collection of drawings and prints, illustrating James Joyce’s Ulysses by Richard Hamilton, the ‘Godfather’ of Pop Art has gone on display at the British Museum. Hamilton, one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century was recently the subject of a major retrospective at Tate Britain this year and is best […]
British Museum And Tate Top List Of Worlds Most Popular Institutions
Figures released in an annual survey have placed the British Museum as the second most popular gallery in the world. The Louvre has again topped the roll of the best-attended art museums. The French institution had 500,000 fewer visitors last year but still managed attendance figures totalling 9.3 million, head and shoulders above other major […]
British Museum Appoints Sir Richard Lambert As New Chairman
The Trustees of the British Museum have announced that they have elected Sir Richard Lambert as their Chairman, from 4 July 2014, for a term of four years. The Board has appointed him as a Trustee from 1 March. Sir Richard takes over from Niall FitzGerald KBE who steps down as Chairman after eight years. […]